Historic Building Restoration

CURRENT WORK

We recently began work on a public art installation called “Serve and Protect” situated in front of the Metro Toronto Police Headquarters. The granite block pyramid and brass police officer are part of a multi-component sculpture that was built in 1988, and designed by artist - Eldon Garnet. The granite block portion will be rebuilt and repointed.

We recently finished the large dry stone wall project. The wall wraps around two properties and now functions as a nice backdrop. This was a lot of work but satisfying once completed. Great work guys!!!

– The first 2 photos are before shots of the walls. More info on earlier posts…

While we do excel at brick and stone restoration, we are very capable at dry-stacked walling. This next job will test our patience and skill-set. We will be rebuilding a 25ft by 25ft high wall as well as a 15ft by 15ft second wall. The area is known for its dry-layed retaining walls and this one is large. EBS Engineering is drilling in a total of 14 12ft helical piles into the earth to secure the soil prior to rebuilding the stone walls. The walls will be taken down in 3 lifts for safety and steel plates will be welded onto the helical piles as we move down. Strata grid 500 mesh and landscape fabric will further retain and protect the walls. The stone will then be built up as though it were a veneer with tiebacks included.

We are working in the Annex neighbourhood at the moment. The job requires us to remove an existing wood porch and build a new one, along with a new landing, numerous steps and retaining walls. The stone for this job is Credit Valley sandstone to match what is currently on the house. We have completed the excavation, footings, and blockwork. We will be pouring a walkway, steps and 2 landings tomorrow. Lots of work, but will look great when completed.

We recently restored an old semi-detached row house in Cabbagetown that was a rooming house in need of serious repairs. The shared 8 flue chimney was rebuilt with a custom cap. The front facade had 7 layers of paint that was carefully stripped. We replaced bricks and all detailing. Arches were rebuilt and sills were restored. A black wash was used to match the original decorative coursing. This house and its neighbour to the right, are the only ones on the street that needed to be restored.

John Da Rocha from Tecnovia - did the amazing paint-stripping job on this house. He combines his knowledge of hot water soft washing with heritage brickwork and produces outstanding results. www.tecnovia.ca

We are finished the cleaning on or next 2 restoration jobs. On both jobs we had to strip 4 layers of paint off different sections of each house. Each job requires extensive brick replacement and repointing. We will add new life to these homes.